Last week at Rushden was about missing chances and finding it hard to get into our fluent stride against organised opposition. This week was, er, about missing chances and finding it hard to find our flowing stride. While luck did influence the two contrasting results, Dagenham & Redbridge were last week's well-drilled opponents with knobs on.

Yeovil still had enough chances to win this game. Missing good opportunities and messing up approach play though have become costly habit, the Daggers goals came from Yeovil attacking play breaking down. Three good Yeovil chances spurned in seconds led to the Daggers breaking down the right appearing to strive purposefully for a corner. Will Antwi's leap was softly contested to allow him a fairly easy header for the Daggers to go a goal up with 18 minutes gone. Yeovil were shaken. They hadn't been convincing but they had had the balance of play and had been punished following their most purposeful stint. In the period that followed, though, they were poor.

Dagenham snuffed out Yeovil's unadventurous blunt effort with ease - dominant in the air and with good recovering pace at the back - and first to the loose ball. Going forward their threat wasn't the sharpest, but on the back of their lead they on occasions got the ball forward quickly and held it up well enough to make us all worried that another frail moment might be near.

Until, in first-half injury time, Andy Williams, having drifted across to the left from his opposite flank, was set free by Owain Tudur Jones to thump an impressive strike past Chris Lewington. No dithering, no hanging on to the ball to 'make sure' - just one perfect clean confident clout - hard and true - that the situation demanded. Out of the blue it was 1-1 and game-on, now sort 'em out Skivo for the second-half and this match is there for the taking...

The second-half did see an improvement, patches of fluent play and numerous chances. There is no doubt that luck played a part against Yeovil this week, as they came agonisingly close a number of times. Mistakes though were also still an unfortunate factor, but on balance the home side had worked and probed well enough to have deserved a second goal. Dagenham were still positive and determined themselves, and Yeovil had to be careful at the back. As time wore on, and despite Gavin Williams and Luke Freeman joining the fray in a fruitless attempt to sharpen the attacking effort, the worry intensified that we might again get hit at the back, and that is exactly what happened with the Glovers showing a degree of naivety on two occasions. Abu Ogogo put the away side 2-1 up with a shot that didn't seem good enough to beat John Sullivan, though overall the Yeovil keeper had had a very good game. Late-on, the exposed Yeovil defence fell victim to Medy Elito angling in from the left, switching the ball on to his right foot to neatly beat Sullivan at his far post.

Yeovil battled on, but it wasn't to be, Paul Huntington unlucky with a firm header against the bar. 3-1 wasn't a reflection of any Dagenham dominance because they weren't vastly superior by any stretch, but there can be no qualms with the result that came about by our opponents maximising a combination of Yeovil misfortune and flaws. I had the pleasure of meeting up with my brother who was up from Devon for the day - not at all a football fan but always persuadable by the lure of a Hungry Horse sirloin. It was plain even for him to spot weaknesses causing the lack of Yeovil first-half cohesion. John Still's men had been efficient muggers on the day, whilst able to resist the Yeovil quality when it did surface. Shaun MacDonald's all-round midfield efforts were again admirable, I feel that he would do better with Jean Paul Kalala in there battling next to him.

It's going to be a tense few games coming up, because the harsh truth is that if we don't get a decent quota of points from those games then we could be adrift even before Christmas. The season is far from lost at this point, but it was a significantly bad result against a team also battling the drop. Those points thrown away against Swindon with three minutes to go are now appearing more crucial than ever they were. With just 3,500 regulars turning up, the future is presently appearing significantly bleak. Terry Skiverton will continue to fight for the cause, we must support him and there is no doubt that lack of squad-depth is a problem; such times inevitably turn the spotlight onto the Board and lack of off-field progression. That debate which has been simmering for consecutive seasons, is now appearing to be the main and constant topic for most supporters.

I had a long day of train travel yesterday. At the station for the first return leg I was surprised to note that the Dagenham contingent waiting for the train consisted of just a handful of supporters - the merry band of Londoners were in fact Dagenham players returning from their grand day out on the train - well not just some players but the entire team, management, staff, the Chairman in fact the whole caboodle. Gavin Tomlin was kind enough to tell (but not convince) me that we'll 'be alright.'

Final word was from my brother. He had to admit that it wasn't so bad as the last time he went. That time, so I now learn, was fixed in his memory as the most rotten of experiences, as I had taken advantage of his good nature to get a lift to the match. As that had been the awful second replay against Millwall in 1975, I could see why, but had no idea just how deeply for thirty-five years he had been carrying his scar. But now, he confessed that his mood had lightened and he might be persuaded to give it another go (with a compulsory sirloin). On the timespan from his first to his second match, I would expect his third might see us losing the Champions League Final in 2045 preceded by a steak and a shandy @ 98 Euros. But apparently no, it might even be this season - what do they put in the water, down there in Devon?

Final thought for Taff: Hope you enjoyed your Birthday and yer gallivanting in Wales. A very shrewd move by your wife to get you out of Somerset for this match, though desperately hard luck on the Wales result, certainly ran the Springboks close. Now prepare to do yer duty at HP again in three weeks when GJ comes down, or er, might come down if he can ride the wrath of the irate Irishman.

Thanks Cruncher, had a fantastic time in Cardiff despite the result. The Millennium Stadium is magnificent and Cardiff itself is such a different place to the one I remember as a boy, modern, vibrant and exciting. The highlight of our stay was eating a 4-course meal cooked by none other than Martin Blunos, the well-known tv chef. Sensational! Ah well, back to reality.... sausage and chips for tea tonight :)
15/11/2010 10:39:24

Dusty said ...

Oh dear. It is worse than I thought it would be this season even though I thought a drop to div 2 was more likely this time than ever before. Skivo has been a great servant for the club but these are mostly his players - we have not got much money but did we get the best we could? Either we did and they are not performing well enough; or we need that something extra up front to put away the chances; or Skivo is not getting the best out of them; or we need some wholesale changes? How much longer does the board wait?
15/11/2010 12:44:14

Martin Blain said ...

I was very surprised that Skivo did not start Gavin Williams. As soon as he came on in the second half we looked more likely to score. The story of the game is that we could/should have been three up after 18 minutes and it was poor finishing that ultimately cost us.

Well done to Medy Elito, their number 37, who came on as a sub and showed the only quality of the day. He's represented England at youth level and looked like he could go further.
15/11/2010 13:44:14

Rhino said ...

Thanks Cruncher - good summary of the game. I was SO disappointed on Saturday - utterly convinced before the game that the three points would be ours. Having had time to reflect on what went wrong, I agree that we need JP Kalala back in the holding role. I feel that the defence always seem quite solid but we allow the opposition a free run when our attacks break down. Send Tudur-Jones back to Norwich now and replace him with a bit more steel. However, if Adam Philip can score a couple each match (unlike Sam Williams), maybe it won't matter so much!
16/11/2010 21:09:27

Northern Glover said ...

I think Yeovil are finally coming to the end of the road in league 1. We have been surviving season after season on a shoe string budget and with loan signings..continual poor finishing and sloppy defending are sure signs the team is not good enough for this division. I am not blaming Terry Skiverton he can only work with what he has, and its not good enough right now
18/11/2010 13:14:57

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